| The Press Democrat | |
| Type: | Daily newspaper |
| Format: | Broadsheet |
| Foundation: | 1897 (as the Sonoma Democrat) |
| Owners: | Sonoma Media Investments LLC |
| Editor: | John D'Anna, Interim Executive Editor |
| Circulation: | 20,000 Daily 25,000 Sunday 18,000 Digital Only |
| Circulation Date: | 2023 |
| Headquarters: | 416 B Street Santa Rosa, California 95401 |
| Issn: | 0747-220X |
| Circulation Ref: | [1] |
| Sister Newspapers: | Sonoma Index-Tribune, Argus-Courier |
| Free: | (1875-1928) |
The Press Democrat, with the largest circulation in California's North Bay, is a daily newspaper published in Santa Rosa, California.
The newspaper was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley, who merged his Evening Press and Thomas Thompson's Sonoma Democrat (originally created as a voice for the Democratic Party). Finley bought the Santa Rosa Republican in 1927 and merged it with The Press Democrat in 1948.
Finley, his wife Ruth Woolsey Finley, daughter Ruth Finley Person, and son-in-law Evert B. Person owned and published the "PD" between 1897 and 1985. After the death of his wife in 1985, Evert Person sold the paper to The New York Times Company.
The most popular feature in The Press Democrat for many years was Gaye LeBaron's community column, according to a readership survey. LeBaron produced more than 8,000 columns between 1961 and her semi-retirement in 2001, writing on human interest, cultural events, ethnic history and local politics.[2] [3]
Along with The Press Democrat, The New York Times Company bought the North Bay Business Journal and the Petaluma Argus-Courier; all were acquired by Halifax Media Group in January 2012. Less than a year later, in November 2012, Halifax resold its California papers to a local ownership group, Sonoma Media Investments, LLC, which included former congressman Douglas H. Bosco,[4] Jean Schulz, the widow of Peanuts comic strip creator Charles M. Schulz, and Norma Betz Person, widow of The Press Democrats former publisher Evert Person.[5]
In 2019, Sonoma Media Investments acquired the Sonoma County Gazette of Forestville, a monthly newspaper.[6]
The Press Democrats staff was the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for "[f]or lucid and tenacious coverage of historic wildfires that ravaged the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County."[7] Former staff photographer Annie Wells also won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography "for her dramatic photograph of a local firefighter rescuing a teenager from raging floodwaters."[8]
The newspaper was also the 2004 recipient of the George Polk Award for Regional Reporting,[9] given annually by Long Island University to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.